Captured (A Modern Medusa Story)

CHAPTER 36: PHOEBE💙

I found pleasure in the brief moments when Averista stared deeply at my skin, like it was the most exotic thing she had ever seen. Like she could never get enough of it.
I couldn't see it, but I could feel it. 
And it was actually me who couldn't get enough of her. I couldn't let it out, though. I was too flushed to even utter a word.

"Can I?" Averista's fingers tugged on the hem of my dress, begging for permission.

I nodded, words failing me. Despite my anticipation of her to remove my dress, her hands made their way to my denim coat instead, leaving me to ponder her motives.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. I almost didn't hear it. And I had no time to reply because her lips were already painting little shapes on the skin of my nape, down my collarbones, to my shoulders. She nibbled hard enough to draw blood, making me lose myself and hold on to her for dear life.
Her kisses felt like snake bites. Delicate viper kisses, seeping venom into my blood.

I sensed her hands on my sides, lifting me up and taking me away from the spot.

Right after she dropped me on the fuchsia sheets, I pulled her over me. Our lips melded with an insatiable hunger as I peeled off her jacket too.

"Why did you apologize?" I finally found the strength to speak when she moved away from my mouth and pushed down the straps of my dress with her fingertips, leaving them hanging over my arms.

She stopped her movements. And even though I couldn't actually see her, I could feel her eyes skimming through me . . . my hair, my face, my bare shoulders, every inch of my body.

"Because you deserve the world . . . And I don't have that." She marked.
Her words were an oblivion to me.

"I don't deserve anything–"

"No," she cut in. "You deserve the best of everything. You deserve so much better–someone better . . . Someone who isn't a monster."

My thoughts froze. And so did my heart.

I stared up, like I could see her when I couldn't. I knew she felt something whenever I did that because I could feel it in the pace of her breathing. I moved up, cupping her face carefully, and lowering her down to me. I kissed her. Hard.
But Averista didn't kiss me back. She pulled away.

"What do you mean?" I questioned with a sigh.

I needed to know what she was thinking.
But all I got was silence.

"Wildflowers," I called, sitting us up. "Talk to me."

I reached for her face again, feeling her skin taut at the contact. In an unexpected motion, she took my hand in hers. Now I was the one tensing as she planted little pecks on each of my knuckles. The way she did it made me feel like she was leaving me.

"I love you." I found myself saying, begging her to stay.

Something in the air told me my words mortified her. It was understandable. If I were a monster and someone professed their love to me, I'd find it difficult as well.

I grappled the sides of her t-shirt and kissed her again. And again, but she tore away before I could even do anything else.

"The universe has given me my reward. And fortunately or unfortunately, it's you," I muttered, turning her to face me. "I have a serious thing for reptiles. For cold-blooded creatures. And they tend to like me too. So here we are."

Averista let out a chuckle at that. A sound too cute to hear.

"What–Was that funny?" I smiled at her.

"It was just–" I pushed her down before she could even finish her sentence.

"Explicitly said. Accurate." She finished, swallowing hard as I nestled on top of her, intertwining our fingers. "But, like I said . . . I'm a monster, Phoebe. A snake. This body is just a camouflage of who I really am. A gorgon."